


Bartender AU

by Unda



Category: One Piece
Genre: Bartender AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-03 04:33:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4087006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unda/pseuds/Unda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sanji owns his own bar and the best part of it is the view into the flat of the attractive green haired man across the road. </p><p>Zoro's favourite evening pastime is unsubtly irritating the barman in his bar or just watching him hopefully from his window. </p><p>Art for this fic is done by the magnificent Yuushishio</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yuushishio can be found at yuushishio.tumblr.com and the art for this fic is at http://yuushishio.tumblr.com/tagged/bartender-AU
> 
> Go give yuu some love!

art for this fic is done by the wonderful Yuushishio. The art for this fic is at <http://yuushishio.tumblr.com/tagged/bartender-AU> Go give yuu some love!

 

It would be almost funny if it wasn't for the fact that Zoro has been making himself go back to the bar every night that he can this month. He is strategically draining the bartender's liquor dry, hoping to get enough of a reaction out of him. The blonde bastard must think that he has an alcohol problem by now.

Zoro does not have an alcohol problem. He has a Sanji problem.

That's the guy's name, or, at least that's what it says on the receipts that get printed out when he orders. He's ordered from other people before and got different names, and he's pretty sure that he heard another bartender call him by that.

Sanji.

He doesn't even look like he's from the right kind of country to have that sort of name. If anything the guy looks aggressively European. Scandinavian maybe with the pale skin, blond hair and blue eyes. It's not that Zoro spends a lot of time thinking about this or anything. It's just that he doesn't have a TV ever since Luffy oh so enthusiastically threw his own wiimote through it when he brought his console around to Zoro's house. So Zoro doesn't have a lot to do.

There is a bar right near his apartment, one that has some fancy modern glass wall that means that Zoro can see in right from his sofa. So even when he's not in the bar he sees him.

That guy must own the place, or if he doesn't then he pulls some serious overtime for how much Zoro sees him in there.

He's not stalking him, he's not. It's just that when he's in there the guy is always so smartmouthed and infuriating and it's often only when Zoro gets home that he thinks of the perfect comeback to one of the blond's cutting remarks. But by that point it's far too late to go back and throw it at him. So he sits there, trying to read a book instead of staring out of the window at Sanji in the bar and failing. Instead of reading he stares vacantly and plans ways to pick an argument with the man. It's juvenile perhaps but Sanji never looks so attractive and vibrant as he does when he's yelling at Zoro for one thing or another.

He glances down at the bar for about the hundredth time that night, his finances and his liver don't allow him to be in there all of the time after all. Only this time the blond is looking right back up at him. He raises one curled eyebrow at Zoro. Or maybe it's both, with that stupid haircut who can tell?

He sees Sanji chew his lip and walk off before returning to the window with the blackboard that holds the imported beers of the week on it. Zoro watches curiously as Sanji rubs at it with his sleeve and writes something new. He holds the board up to the window.

"Drink?"

 


	2. Chapter 2

art for this fic is done by the wonderful Yuushishio. The art for this fic is at <http://yuushishio.tumblr.com/tagged/bartender-AU> Go give yuu some love!

 

Sanji cleans the glass and tries to steady his nerves.

Hell, he doesn't even know the guy's name, not for sure anyway. He thinks that it's Zoro, that's what he's determined from the messy scrawl on his receipts when he uses his card to pay his tab. His bar has only been open for two months but Zoro has been visiting the bar more or less from the beginning.

When he showed up for the third time Sanji should have just been pleased that it seemed like he was getting a regular customer already. Instead he was pleased that he was going to see his  _hot_  regular more often, because goddamn is he hot. He's got this garish hair, a scar over one eye that keeps it shut and the set of his eyebrows makes it look like he's scowling all of the time. He shouldn't look good but he does. Maybe some people would be put off by his looks but it makes Sanji weak at the knees.

He'd started talking to him beyond just drink orders, he'd tried to be smooth at first but then Zoro opened his mouth and all possibilities of that went out of the window. Zoro is infinitely frustrating, he's mouthy, sarcastic and has a way of getting Sanji's attention no matter what. Even without saying a word Zoro can agitate him. If he tries flirting with ladies when Zoro's around the idiot laughs when Sanji does it, ruining his smooth lines. It's not like Sanji is really trying to get any of the ladies to come to bed with him, though he wouldn't say no, but flirting with customers is part of the charm of his place. But when Zoro is there it just can't be done.

He hopes that it makes Zoro jealous.

To his shame it took him two weeks to realise that his hot regular lived right across the road from Sanji's bar. To his further shame he spends more time than he should glancing up at his window. What can he say, sometimes business is slow. He works late of course, it comes with owning a bar, so sometimes he sees Zoro late at night. Zoro apparently doesn't own curtains because Sanji has seen him walking by the window in the sinfully lowest pair of pyjama pants that Sanji has ever seen and he'd never hated fabric so much in his life until then. His prayers to any and all deities for them to suddenly slip down has gone unanswered.

As much as he likes glancing up at Zoro when the argumentative bastard isn't in his bar, he kind of likes the idea that Zoro is watching him even more. Maybe he's a secret exhibitionist, but whenever Zoro is home Sanji gets an excited feeling that Zoro could be watching. He's seen the man looking from time to time and it makes Sanji show off more than he should, acrobatically throwing bottles in the air and catching them as he makes drinks.

It's even better when Zoro comes into the bar in person. Sanji wants to spend the whole night talking to him, arguing with him and finding out more about him other than his alcohol choices and how defined his abs are. He can't though, there are those pesky other customers to deal with.

That's why he has this plan tonight, he will get to know the man. If it works out of course. He's not actually working tonight, he's scheduled himself off. He sets his clean glass down, mixes himself a drink and shakes it. He pours it and takes a drag from his cigarette, adjusting his collar to distract himself from his nerves. All he needs to do is wait for Zoro to look at him and- oh god he's looking now.

He had planned this smooth smirk and a come hither gesture but it all falls out of his head as they make eye contact. Zoro's book jerks slightly and Zoro looks surprised and a little embarrassed, maybe he didn't know that Sanji could see him watching all this time.

Shit, his plan. It's not going to work if he stays staring at him like this. He walks off and comes back with his board, hastily wiping it clean and scrawling his message on it. With his heart thumping and his face going red he holds up the message.

"Drink?"

 


	3. Chapter 3

art for this fic is done by the wonderful Yuushishio. The art for this fic is at <http://yuushishio.tumblr.com/tagged/bartender-AU> Go give yuu some love!

 

"Sanji." He says by way of greeting when he shows up outside the bar. The bartender gasps, little and quiet at hearing his own name spoken aloud and Zoro doesn't quite get it until Sanji echoes his own name back and Zoro gets a thrill of 'he knows my name' run up his spine.

"So, drinks. Somewhere else would be good." Sanji says with a nod backwards to the bar behind him.

"Yeah, I guess you spend enough time inside your own bar huh?" Zoro nods and Sanji's eyes go wide and his smile bright.

"You knew I owned it." Sanji says, though he guesses that it's more to himself than to Zoro.

"Well, yeah. I guessed you did, you spend way too much time there for someone who doesn't. So either you own the place or you're a complete loser with no friends." He says and Sanji rolls his eyes.

"Actually, maybe I shouldn't have leapt to conclusions, that second one is way more likely." Zoro teases Sanji as they walk along down the road, Sanji presumably having decided on where they're going. Zoro doesn't have anywhere else in mind that he wants to be, as long as he's there with Sanji.

"I always forget why I like you when you open your mouth." Sanji argues and shoves him in the shoulder, making Zoro stumble a little.

Sanji picks a bar, it's actually a place that does a decent amount of food and Zoro wonders if Sanji is considering turning this into a proper date rather than just drinks if things go well. The bar itself is cosy almost, with mismatched furniture and he and Sanji end up sitting side by side in a booth inside an old giant beer barrel that's almost big enough to stand straight up in. It must have weighed a tonne when it was full.

They both seem a little nervous and the conversation starts to follow a rote pattern.

"So, you know what I do, what do you do?" Sanji asks him.

"I used to race motorcycles, until-" Zoro cuts himself off. The image of his bike crash and the visor of his helmet fracturing in a one in a billion design flaw and the last time that he saw out of two eyes at once. He realizes that his hand was halfway to his eye and he scowls and snatches it away.

"Now I just work in a bookstore" He answers lamely. He sees Sanji's gaze on his scarred and missing eye and a flare of agitation rises up in him. Why had Sanji asked him out to drinks anyway?

"Does it bother you?" Sanji asks him suddenly and all of Zoro's internal angst about his injury redirects instantly at Sanji. How fucking DARE he?

"What?" He grits out angrily.

"Sorry, it's just- my old man... he lost his leg. Well, he didn't lose it, he had to have it cut off. He said that it always bothered him afterwards. Not hurting as such but just it not being there felt wrong to him, like he could still feel it almost. That's what he always used to say, that it bothered him." Sanji explains, looking down at his wineglass and fidgeting with the stem of it.

"Geez, I'm sorry, A first date and I bust out a question like that, what's wrong with me?" Sanji mutters, flustered.

"I guess it does. It'd feel better if people didn't stare at me for it though." He grumbles, he's had enough kids gawp at him and ask him what happened. He might still be a little bitter about the whole thing, he'd worked so hard to be the best racer and he had been gunning for the title when some stupid crash ended it all.

"It's not why I spend so much time staring at you." Sanji says softly and his hand comes to Zoro cheek, his thumb stroking along Zoro's cheekbone, not quite over his scar, but almost. Zoro's heart hammers, and he looks at the other man who is rapidly turning red and moves to take his hand back, clearly thinking that he's made a mistake.

Zoro catches it and keeps it there and, taking as much of a risk as Sanji had, leans in and kisses the other man. Sanji gasps into it and then sighs happily, his fingers shifting between Zoro's and against his face.

They pull apart and Zoro looks at him for a while, he spends an awful lot of time looking at Sanji, but up close and right now it feels very different. It feels better.

 


	4. Chapter 4

art for this fic is done by the wonderful Yuushishio. The art for this fic is at <http://yuushishio.tumblr.com/tagged/bartender-AU> Go give yuu some love!

 

"Hey there stranger." A voice says from Zoro's side, it's his blind side too and the intrusion is so sudden that Zoro jolts and accidentally flings the book that he was holding out of his hand. He flails and tries to catch it but the other person does instead.

That other person is Sanji, grin all cocky and book in hand.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" He snaps, more angry at himself for his stupid inability to sense people coming from that direction than he is at Sanji. He's got better at listening more and his senses are better, though they'd always been great, but nothing compares to actually having vision on that side.

"Sorry, just thought I'd come and see you." Sanji responds, looking a little hurt and irritated at Zoro's words.

"I didn't mean- never mind." Zoro mutters, realising that his hand had come up to his eye again. He keeps doing that without realising, touching the scar as if he could rub it better like he's got grit in his eye or something. He doesn't even have an eye any more.

"You haven't been here before, what do you think of the place?" Zoro asks, changing the subject and hoping that Sanji will go with it. Thankfully he does.

"I think it's huge. You told me that the book shop you worked at was big but I've never seen anywhere like this before. I must have walked past it before but it never looked this big from the outside." Sanji remarks, looking around again as if he needs to check that it's not changed size since he last looked.

"Yeah, we have the front of the shop and the back of the other two on either side, upstairs and down. Robin wishes it was bigger but unless she can add another floor on there's nothing she can do." Zoro answers with a shrug and takes the book off of Sanji and tries to find where he was supposed to be putting it.

The bookshop itself is huge and it looks bigger than it actually is because Robin has seen fit to cover about every surface that she can in bookshelves. All of the walls have them, the staircase has books in the recessed space under each step, the doorways have shelves over them. The bookshelf that Zoro is in front of right now is floor to ceiling and has a rolling ladder on it so that people can get to the books. Frankly the place looks more like a library of a historic university than a bookstore. It's part of the magic of the place though.

"Robin, is that your boss?" Sanji asks curiously.

"Yeah, she's my friend too. Well, she was my friend first." Zoro answers and climbs up a step on the ladder to put another book away.

"So... what time do you get off then?" Sanji asks with a smile and a grin. Zoro can't believe that he actually just said that.

"In about six hours and I just had a break too, so sorry." He answers with a laugh.

"Hm, so your boss would be pretty upset if you were doing something other than working right now, hm?" Sanji asks with a smile.

"Yeah, it might not bother you, you're your own b-" Zoro's speech cuts off as he feels Sanji's hands on his waist.

"So I guess that you should be quiet." the other man purrs and Zoro scrambles to turn around without falling off of the ladder or dropping his book.

Sanji grins up at him and something in his expression is all devious flirtation and Zoro is caught between wanting to explore that and trying to resist because he's at work. He's not even sure of the full extent of what Sanji has in mind but he's sure that it's not what Robin is paying him to do.

Sanji's hand fists in the front of Zoro's shirt and yanks him down for a kiss, an almost aggressive one in fact.

"Do you know how difficult you make work for me sometimes? Last night you were walking around in your place in just a towel and I wanted-" Sanji shakes his head, trying to dislodge the thought and Zoro can see his face heating up.

"Aw, poor Sanji." Zoro laughs at him and Sanji glares.

"Yeah, well, now it's your turn." the blonde says sharply, pulling Zoro off of the steps and pushing him back into the bookcase. Zoro's shoulders bump the wood and Sanji gets as close to him as he can, close enough to kiss him but not doing it. When Zoro leans in to kiss him Sanji avoids it, just grinning at him instead. His hand slides up the inside of Zoro's shirt and he opens his mouth to protest but Sanji cuts him off.

"You wouldn't want to get caught by your boss right marimo?" Sanji teases quietly. Zoro flicks a glance to the end of the row of books, he can hear Robin downstairs but the woman is so light on her feet that she could appear at any moment. He bites his lip hard as Sanji bites his neck.

Sanji is driving him mad, kissing him when Zoro isn't expecting it but leaving him without when Zoro tries to kiss him instead. Sanji is deliberately getting under Zoro's skin as much as he can.

Sanji's fingers slide along the waistband of Zoro's dark jeans and Zoro's breath hitches and his head collides with the edge of a shelf as he tries not to make a sound. Sanji turns and moves Zoro, so that he's not against the bookshelf any more but instead with his back to the ladder and the rest of the bookshop. Great, now he can't even see if Robin is coming, not that he was doing a great job of looking out for her a moment ago.

"Consider this revenge." Sanji breathes against Zoro's lips as his hand dips a little lower in Zoro's jeans but still not low enough for Zoro's taste. Zoro chokes back a noise and tries to inch a little closer to Sanji, if Sanji wants quiet he'll give him it if that is where being quiet will get him.

Sanji takes his hand back smoothly and plucks a book from the shelf at random.

"Thanks for the help finding the book, can I pay for this downstairs?" Sanji asks lightly, walking past him though Zoro can see that Sanji is almost as red faced as Zoro himself is. Zoro tilts his head and sees Robin at the end of the shelves. She arches an eyebrow at him and then dissapears with Sanji.

Zoro hisses in frustration. He is going to walk around his home fucking naked and stretch right by the windows, staring at Sanji the whole time. Then Sanji will understand revenge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art from Yuushishio will be added as soon as it's done, so do check back!

Sanji still looks up at Zoro's window when he's working, it's just habit now. Zoro's friends had been over that evening and though Zoro had invited him Sanji had said that he needed to work. In truth he could have got out of it but things between him and Zoro were still so new, even if they were moving kind of fast physically. Though, he supposes that they aren't moving that fast, they just flirt with the possibility of going further and usually when one of them is at work just to drive the other crazy. He's pretty sure that Robin has started to notice Sanji's growing collection of unreasonably diverse books that he's grabbed at the last minute as well as how red faced her friend and employee is.

 

This time when he looks up at the window it's dark in there and he can just see the dim light in the hallway indicating that Zoro's bedroom light is on, but that too flicks off just as Sanji is calling for last orders. Only when all of the lights are off does he see it, written on Zoro's window in white ink:

 

Sanji

1 pm

Tsuki lot, 303

 

Sanji frowns at the utterly bizarre message. Zoro has his phone number, if he'd wanted to send him something he could have done that or even walked down his stairs and across the road to see him.

 

Sanji is terribly bad at letting mysteries go unsolved so he searches online for the place and sees that it's a storage unit. It's within walking distance of his home so he heads there out of pure curiosity. When he gets close though he hears Zoro arguing with someone.

 

“Nami, this isn't funny! You can't just steal my keys and drag me down here!” Zoro snaps angrily.

 

“You didn't notice that they were gone when I stole them a week ago.” A woman's voice says.

 

“NAMI!”

 

“Yes, Zoro? You should be thanking me, I got Franky to tune it up, she's ready to go.” the woman says.

 

Sanji edges around the building and she smiles craftily when she sees him, Sanji recognizes her, she was one of the women at Zoro's party last night.

 

“Besides, I brought you a present, and gift wrap too.” Nami grins and throws something into Zoro's arms before turning Zoro around on the spot by his shoulders to face Sanji.

 

Zoro stares at him in shock and Sanji isn't quite sure what it is in Zoro's arms, it looks like leather of some kind.

 

“I... uh... there was a note on your window, I thought it was from you.” Sanji explains although he's completely confused.

 

“Nami!” Zoro hisses, turning to look at her but instead she just smiles broadly at them and with a cheerful 'be safe!' she disappears.

 

“What just happened?” Sanji asks, walking to Zoro and looking inside the storage unit. Inside is perhaps one of the most beautiful looking bike ever and it takes his breath away. It's all sleek lines and shining paint and of course it's bright green. It occurs to him that the leather things in Zoro's arms are probably motorcycle gear. He can't help but notice the other bike in the room, it's half under a sheet but Sanji can see enough shattered pieces to guess that it was probably the one in the accident that Zoro never talks about. He knows that Zoro used to race bikes but he doesn't know how bad the accident that claimed his eye was. He decides not to ask about it.

 

“Nami was apparently planning for me to take you for a ride.” Zoro grumbles.

 

“I've never ridden a motorcycle.” Sanji says distractedly as he runs his fingers over the gorgeous glossy paint.

 

“What, never?” Zoro asks in surprise.

 

“Yeah, never. Or are you deaf as well as blind?” Sanji snorts. Zoro throws the leathers in his arms at Sanji's head and when he pulls himself free of them he sees that it is indeed a full suit.

 

“You're an asshole, but I can't let the travesty of you never having been on a bike continue. Put those on.” Zoro orders him and turns to the bike to inspect it. Sanji sticks his tongue out at the other man's back but he can't say that he wants to reject Zoro's offer. He just has a few reservations.

 

“Are... are you even allowed to ride that? I mean... you can't exactly _see_ all that well.” Sanji points out awkwardly. 

 

“Hah! I can see just fine, I still have my license and I had to do was fix my mirrors differently. I used to drive that thing at over two hundred miles an hour, we won't be doing anywhere near that.” Zoro laughs, gesturing to the bike. Sanji looks over to it and sees a shattered helmet with pieces missing and he can't help but think of Zoro's scar and his eye. Why does he still have this bike? Is he unable to let what happened to him go or does he keep it as some kind of reminder? Sanji isn't sure that he would want something like that around if it was him. 

 

“I wouldn't let you get on this if I didn't think it was safe.” Zoro says seriously.

 

“I trust you.” Sanji says with a slow smile, and he really believes it. He zips the thick leather motorcycle clothes up, from hip to his neck and Zoro does the same. 

 

“Helmet.” Zoro asserts and pushes one over Sanji's head, checking that it fits right for him. 

 

Sanji adjusts to the odd feeling of the clothes and follows Zoro outside as he moves the motorcycle backwards and then turns it towards the road. Sanji pulls down the shuttered door to the unit for Zoro and hears the thing lock on its own. 

 

Zoro is already on the motorcycle and the engine is rumbling. Sanji feels a nervousness rising within him, it's not that he doesn't trust Zoro, it's that he doesn't trust himself. He has no idea how to do this. 

 

“Stand on there and climb over.” Zoro tells him and Sanji spots a metal bar by the back wheel for his feet. With one hand on Zoro's shoulder he climbs on, not feeling especially graceful as he does so. 

 

“Just hold on to me. When I turn the bike you just have to relax and go with it, don't fight me, don't try to steer as well. Let me do all the work, you just have to stay there.” Zoro tells him through his helmet. 

 

Zoro revs the engine and it sends a shudder of anticipation up his spine. Zoro glances over his shoulder at Sanji and he nods, he sees excitement in Zoro's eyes and he faces forward again. The motorcycle starts moving and though they take it slow as they get out of the small roads around the storage area they hit the main road soon enough and they speed up a lot more. 

 

Turning is awkward for the first time, the whole bike shifts and pitches over and Sanji has a fleeting moment of fear and falling but Zoro comes out of the turn before Sanji can screw it up. The next turn that Zoro takes Sanji closes his eyes and just... goes with it. He doesn't come flying off and it feels almost natural. He lets his control slip away from him and just like Zoro said the bike moves, turns and dips without Sanji having to do anything more than relax. 

 

Some part of this feels almost hypnotic. He has his arms around Zoro's waist and he can feel every breath the man takes, he can feel the heat of his body through their thick clothes. The purr of the bike runs through his bones and it feels like its part of Zoro. From the bike below him, Zoro in front of him and the clothes and helmet around him he feels like he's surrounded by Zoro and it feels... perfect. 

 

He rests his helmet on Zoro's back and just watches the world go by. Traffic slides by them and eventually they get to open roads and Zoro goes faster, turns deeper and the further they go the calmer Sanji feels. His eyes slide closed and he feels so safe and secure against Zoro that he could almost go to sleep like this. It'd be a terrible idea to do it of course but Sanji flirts with the edge of sleep leaving him in an almost mediative state. 

 

He comes back into himself when the bike stops completely and he sits up a little and looks around. Sanji can't see anything around them except the open road and the empty gentle hills and valleys of the world around them. He looks towards the horizon and sees that the sun is just setting and a brilliant burn of gold and red. 

 

“I think I lost track of time.” Zoro says quietly as he pulls his own helmet off. 

 

Sanji thinks that he should probably be worried about not being at the bar when he should be, he should probably be asking Zoro where the hell they are, asking if they have enough gas to get home or at least to the next station to refuel. He's vaguely aware that these are things that should be concerning him, but they don't. 

 

“That's okay.” He murmurs quietly, resting his head on Zoro's back with a sleepy and happy smile still on his face. 

 


End file.
